The Memphis appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1886-1890, 1887-05-15

He said, "Oh, I'm a great
friend to all women" upon which |
shook hands warmly with him, and
evoked one Of his smiles, which are
as pleasing as they are rare. Asked
how many wives he had, he replied
that he had right to all he wanted,
but that one wife was enough to keep
any man poor. The Right Hon. Mr..
Gladstone and Mrs. Gladstone, lrv-
ing, Toole, Lady Beehive, the Dow
ager Countess OF Downshire, Col.
Hughes Hallett, Lord Ronald Cow
er and Capt. Carl II. Thimm have
been among the many visitors to the
exhibition this week. The opening
will probably attract the largest
crowd ever seen in one place here.
The members of the Press Club,
Savage Club and Garrick Club are
coming in a body; the Council OF
Welcome, numbering 600, and host
Of other distinguished persons.
THE MAIDS OF HONOR
to the Queen earn every penny Of the
$500 a year which is their stipend
for filling a very difficult position.
With the best of intentions and with
the kindest heart in the world, the
Queen expects so much from herself
in the way of physical toll, both for
business and pleasure, that she may
perhaps be excused for sometimes
forgetting that the flesh, especially
aristocratic flesh, is weak. The maids
of honor are on duty for a month at a
time and at the end of the month
they are generally fit subjects for
course Of tonic treatment. While on
duty they cannot call their souls their
own. After breakfast, which they
take in their own rooms, they have
to hold themselves in instant readi-
ness to obey the Queens summons,
which comes the moment Sir Henry
Ponsonby quits Her Majesty's pres
euce, with the big red morocco dis
patch box, containing his days work
under his arm. After a brief Good
morning" the Queen suggests little
reading, and the dutiful maid sd-
dresses herself to the pile of papers
wherein the proper psssa gesStcr Her
Msjesty's hearing have already been
marked by Sir Henry. Through col
umns and columns of parlia-
mentary debate, leading ar
ticle and correspondence has
the poor lady to intone her dismal
way, often having to repeat passages,
for the Queen never leaves a subject
till she has thoroughly mastered it,
and is not at all sparing in her COM
mands to Just read that again,
please" The maid of honor is so
busy minding her stops and trying to
modulate her voice that she has little
chance of understanding a 1.-THE of
what she is reading, and yet the mo-
ment the reading is over she has to
rush off and get ready for drive
with her royal mistress, during which
she will be expected to make lucid
remarks on the topics she has just
read aloud. After luncheon the
only real time the maids of honor
have to themselves, and even that is
spoilt for them by the uncertainty as
to whether they will be wanted to
walk or drive with the Queen later
in the afternoon. They must stay in
their apartments, for if by any chance
they should be sent for and were not
to be found at the moment, their life
for day or two would not be a happy
one, so that stroll in the grounds
on their own account is out of the
question, till after 4 o'clock, when if
the Queen has departed on drive
without them they know they are free
till 6 at any rate. On the Queen s
return there is more reading aloud,
this time of ponderous works on
heavy philosophical subjects, or else
the arranging of sketches, photo
graphs, or, it may be, the charity
needlework is brought out till such
time as Her Majesty goes to
dress for her 8 O'clock dinner,
where to the relief of the maid OF
honor, she is not expected to be
present. By this time she is not
unfrequentally faint for want of food,
for when not at court she would nat
urally be finishing dinner at the hour
when it would be the Queens pleas
ure to commence it. Young ladies
do not as a rule, jump at the post Of
maid of honor to the Queen till they
have given themselves a fair chance
of obtaining an establishment" 1t
is not till season after season has
been drawn blank that disconsolate
ladies have recourse to the dignity
very much minus the leisure of join
ing the Household" 1t follows
that, by no means in the sere and
yellow leaf, the majority of the maids
of honor are not in the first blush Of
budding girlhood. The present
senior maid is the Hon. Lepe
Phipps, a cousin of the Marquis o.
Normandy. Miss Phipps will never
see her forty-ftth birthday again
The Hon. Frances Drummond, 8
daughter of Viscount Strathallan, il
thirty-nine. The Hon. Ethel Cado
gan was born in 1853, which puts t
her credit thlrty-three summers, anC
the Hon. Maud Okeover, niece O
Lady Waterpark, by whose infuenc,
she got the appointment, is only
twenty-seven.
THE DIVORCE CALENDAR
promises us two sensations interest
ing to you at home, the case of Bou
cicault and of Winans, the Baltimor,
millionaire. The grand ladies o
Vienna are to repeat their perform
auces of last year; that is to say
under the direction of Princess Paul
inc Metternich, they will again pu
on the skirts of ballet girls, and turn
and twist, and posture tor the edit
cation of the Austrian "bloods,
their excuse being that they do it fol
charity. Papa, isn't my new dres,
beautifully" yes, dear; was tn,
material of the bodice very expens
ive2" ooh, no, papa; what made you
think it WASP" Because you bough
so little of il"
A Fatal Accident on the Mobile aut
| Ohio Railroad.
MERIDIAN, MIes May 14-An extri
engine going south and nortf